[1] His son and successor William Beattie rather favoured an 0-6-0 type but had made little progress on his design by 1872 when the Locomotive Committee Chairman became impatient and ‘instructed him to approach the Beyer, Peacock and Company,’ to quote for three light 0-6-0 locomotives to operate freight services on the line.

Upon the opening of the new line in 1874 the class was found to be well-suited to both the passenger and freight traffic generated.

William Adams, Beattie’s successor, was also impressed by the locomotives and ordered two more examples (nos.

The locomotives performed well for a quarter of a century, but were gradually replaced on the more demanding roles by more powerful modern designs from 1899 onwards, when they were transferred to the ‘duplicate list’ and moved to lighter duties elsewhere.

[4] The first two examples were withdrawn in 1905 and their boilers salvaged to provide steam for the company’s locomotive works.